Greetings from the Sydney Xero Roadshow

5th November 2013by Doug Morris, CEO, Sharesight

The Emerald City. The Harbour City. The Big Smoke. The Big Enchilada. Whatever colloquialism you prefer, it was with a sense of excitement and relief that we set up shop on our last stop of the Xero Roadshow in Sydney. It’s home to our sales and marketing staff so while we pulled in running on fumes, our home ground advantage allowed us to sprint across the finish line.

Because so many companies are based in the Sydney metro area it can be tough to cut through the interference at big events and connect with real, actual product users. In the past we’ve come across larger accounting and financial advice firms who see the appeal of the cloud ecosystem, might use it for their personal lives, but weren’t motivated to ascend into it professionally.

This event marked a total change. We spoke with players big and small who are ditching legacy systems and moving into the cloud whole hog. It seems decision makers within larger businesses can’t afford to not be seen looking at cost-saving, cloud based technologies. Two years ago the concern was cloud security and backup. Last year it was data portability, implementation, and training. This year? The switch is on.

Great setup for 500 attendees at the Hilton and some interloper looking for free food[/caption] Of the 500 attendees we probably spoke to 150 and gave as many demos as time would allow. Hell, we even founds out a number of Xero staff rely Sharesight for their portfolios and wanted a training session of their own. People in Sydney are on board. They saw the value in the Xero Add-On ecosystem and by virtue of that, saw how Sharesight makes what used to be an awkward cost-centre into a chance to connect and add value for their clients. No more scrambling at tax time trying to recreate portfolio performance and dividend histories retroactively. No more relying on expensive, offline systems.

All in all, the Roadshow was a fantastic two weeks. We onboarded many new Pro clients and their clients’ portfolios. We took note from our clients on a number things we could be doing better and took down a few really cool product ideas that we’ll most likely build. We also hatched a few plans to work with Add-On partners directly. More to come on that one.